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Gov. Youngkin pardons sexual assault victim’s father after Loudoun Co. school board meeting arrest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin granted a pardon Sunday to a father arrested at a Loudoun County School Board meeting in 2021 after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom.The man’s daughter was raped at Stone Bridge High School — leading to the father’s arrest for disrupting a contentious June 22, 2021 school board meeting.The man, whom WTOP is not naming to avoid indirectly identifying the teenager who was sexually assaulted, had been arrested and convicted in District Court of disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice, both misdemeanors.Youngkin called him “a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter” in a news release, after the father disrupted a comment period on transgender policy at the school board meeting and resisted arrest.“In Virginia, parents matter and my resolve to empower parents in unwavering,” Youngkin said. “A parent’s fundamental right to be involved in their chil...

Hostess is being acquired by JM Smucker in a deal valued at $5.6B after coming back from the brink

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

Hostess, the maker of snack classics like Twinkies and HoHos, is being sold to J.M. Smucker in a deal worth about $5.6 billion. Smucker, which makes everything from coffee to peanut butter and jelly, will pay $34.25 per share in a cash and stock, and it will also pick up approximately $900 million in net debt. In addition to Twinkies, Hostess makes CupCakes, DingDongs and Zingers, and also Voortman cookies. Hostess Brands struggled for years and nearly vanished before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in early 2012. Workers blamed the troubles on years of mismanagement and a failure to invest in brands to keep up with changing tastes. The Lenexa, Kansas, company said at the time that it was weighed down by higher pension and medical costs than its competitors, whose employees weren’t unionized.In unwinding its business, Hostess, which was founded in 1925, sold off its brands in chunks to different buyers. Its major bread brands including Wonder were sold to Flowers F...

Miami coach says injured safety Kamren Kinchens is ‘in good shape’ after scary hit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami football coach Mario Cristobal says All-American safety Kamren Kinchens is “in good shape” after being carted off the field following a scary hit late in the Hurricanes’ win over Texas A&M.Cristobal, in his weekly appearance Monday morning on the school’s flagship radio partner WQAM, said all test results have been encouraging. Kinchens was released from a hospital on Sunday. His family posted on social media a photo of him from the hospital bed, thanking people for their support and saying he was “doing better.”“Ran all the tests and all the evaluations and he’s in good shape,” Cristobal said Monday. “He’s fine. He’s going to be well. He’s going to be really good. He doesn’t have anything that’s too serious. He just has some football stuff. We’re going to be in great shape.”Kinchens appeared to take a big hit to his upper body during Miami’s 48-33 win over then-No. 23 Texas A&M on Saturday. Medical staff worked on him for se...

Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony at ground zero begins with tolling bell, moment of silence, 22 years after terror attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony at ground zero begins with tolling bell, moment of silence, 22 years after terror attacks.Source

Devastating storm Daniel sweeps eastern Libya. At least 27 people reported dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — At least 27 people were reported dead Monday in eastern Libya after the Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods over the weekend in different parts of the North African nation. Authorities declared at least one city a disaster zone.Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister of the east Libya government, announced the death toll Monday afternoon in a telephone interview on the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. He said at least 50 others were missing.Abduljaleel said the tally didn’t include the city of Derna — declared a disaster zone — where the situation remained unclear as of Monday afternoon. The dead included 12 people in the eastern town of Bayda, the town’s main medical center said. Another seven people were reported dead in the coastal town of Susa in northeastern Libya, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Authority. Seven others were reported dead in the towns of Shahatt and Omar al-Mokhtar, the minister said.One other person was conf...

Inflection.ai CEO Mustafa Suleyman explains how to catch a ride on the ‘coming wave’ of technology

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

If you have watched a telecast involving basketball superstar LeBron James during the past 20 years, you probably have heard an announcer declare: “You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.” That sentiment sums up how Inflection.ai CEO Mustafa Suleyman feels about artificial intelligence — a technology that he helped advance as a co-founder of DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014.After leaving Google last year, Suleyman started Inflection with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in an effort to create artificial intelligence, or AI, that won’t veer into racist, sexist or violent behavior. Inflection’s first proof point is an AI-powered assistant named “Pi” that’s touted as a safer alternative to better known chatbots such as Open AI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.Now Suleyman has co-written a book, “The Coming Wave,” focused on AI’s promise and need to limit its potential perils. He expanded upon his ideas in a recent interview with...

Photos: 1st snowfall spotted on Colorado peaks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — It's starting to look like winter on top of some Colorado peaks. Monday morning, snow coated the mountaintops in Rocky Mountain National Park.Longs Peak, which sits at 14,259 feet, recorded snow just before 7 a.m. Pinpoint Weather Meteorologist Chris Tomer said this was the peak's first snow of the season.The first snow of the season has fallen on Longs Peak on Sept. 11, 2023. (National Park Service)As of early Monday morning, temperatures on the peak reached 38 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and light winds. Be sure to check the weather forecast before you hike this fall, Longs Peak isn't the only snow-covered mountain. Will it snow in Denver in September? Snow covered another 14er on Monday morning. Pikes Peak summit appeared completely white as well with the temperature just above 40 degrees. Snow on Pikes Peak (Photo credits: Colorado Springs Pike Peaks summit web cam)Winter weather has also arrived at the Alpine Visitor Center in RMNP where Mount Chapin, Fal...

5 train tours near Denver to see the fall colors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The fall colors are starting to peak in the high country. The foliage out west can be at least an hour away from the metro, and long car rides are taxing. These five train tours allow you to sit back, relax and view the fall leaves as you leave the city behind.Rocky MountaineerLeaving from Union Station, the Rocky Mountaineer is a multi-day trip where you can travel from Denver to Moab with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs. The train heads west, where fall colors should peak in mid-September to early October. Colorado fall colors forecast 2023: When and where to see peak colors California ZephyrHeading from Chicago to San Francisco, the California Zephyr stops at Union Station before heading toward Salt Lake City. If you have vacation days, check out the multi-day train ride which travels west near the fall foliage. Georgetown Loop RailroadLess than an hour away from Denver is a train loop day trip from Georgetown to Silver Plume. You can book a fall-themed t...

UCF student bitten by shark makes miraculous recovery, celebrates 22nd birthday with hopeful outlook

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

MELBOURNE, Fla. (WSVN) — Chris Pospisil, a determined University of Central Florida (UCF) student who faced a shark encounter off the coast of New Smyrna Beach in July, is now taking his first steps toward normalcy. After enduring a traumatic shark bite that severed multiple tendons and left a tooth embedded in his bone, Pospisil’s unwavering spirit and the skill of his medical team have allowed him to regain the use of his foot, just in time to celebrate his 22nd birthday.In July, Pospisil’s passion for surfing led him to the waves of New Smyrna Beach, a renowned surf spot on the Atlantic coast of Florida. However, his joyful ride turned into a life-altering event when a shark struck, causing severe injuries to his foot.For the past eight weeks, Pospisil has been on a challenging journey to recovery, facing both physical and emotional hurdles. He spoke about the difficulties he encountered. “There’s been ups and downs, some days where I’m kinda just de...

Morocco stalls on French earthquake aid amid strained relations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

PARIS — Two days after a devastating earthquake killed roughly 2,500 people, Morocco is still considering France’s emergency aid offer, in a fresh sign of tense relations between the two countries.Rabat has accepted aid from several countries, including the U.K and Spain, but has so far not responded to an offer from Paris. Relations between France and Morocco have been strained for several months over issues of visas for Moroccan nationals, the recognition of Western Sahara and relations with Algeria.On Monday, French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna said accepting aid was a sovereign decision and dismissed the questions over France’s offer as “an inappropriate controversy.”“Morocco hasn’t refused any aid, or any proposal. That’s not the way things should be presented,” she said on French channel BFMTV. Paris will also pledge €5 million for NGOs working in Morocco.Rescue workers are racing against the clock to find survivors still trapped under the rubble and get me...